in a recent article posted on www.azom.com, morgan advanced materials announced that it has developed a method for safely disposing of overheated and burning lithium-based batteries on a passenger aircraft.

while the vast majority of batteries will not cause a problem, morgan advanced materials explained, “a single battery overheating can cause an unmanageable fire, pressure wave, explosion or a combination of all three within a matter of minutes.” it explained that there were 171 incidents recorded by the u.s. federal aviation administration (faa) between 1991 and 2006, including several that led to fatalities.

photo courtesy of wikimedia commons.

passengers carry lithium-based batteries in numerous products, from laptops to tablets to smartphones, and there is a constant potential for thermal runaway and a battery fire. as the article noted, in most circumstances those batteries would be easily dealt with but on a plane a fire could turn into a catastrophe.

utilizing technology from its state-of-the-art insulating materials, particularly its firemaster® marine plus blanket that is used on offshore oil rigs, morgan advanced materials created an insulated bag that the battery could be placed in and doused with water. the materials of the bag were selected specifically because they maintain integrity when soaked by water.

in addition to the insulated interior, the 500mm by 500mm bag has a hook-and-loop tape fastener and a silicon-coated glass cloth to lock it once the battery has been deposited and is fixed with a high-temperature yarn that has been used in welding applications.

morgan successfully tested its bags in collaboration with germanwings, a part of the lufthansa airline group.

for more details about morgan advanced materials’ work on the solution to battery fires on aircraft, read http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?articleid=12888.